Flying the flag for dubstep and grime across the west coast of the USA the last couple of years, MRSHL is beginning to reap the rewards for his efforts. This week his ‘The Crown‘ EP releases on Subaltern Records, a label that up until now, mainly features dubstep purists. But it seems MRSHL‘s perfect blends of grime and dubstep could no longer be ignored and the Berlin based label swiped these four tracks for their nineteenth edition.
The EP’s centre piece ‘The Crown‘ brings in UK veteran grime MC, Grim Sickers. Sicker‘s rampant flows work perfectly over MRSHL‘s production where the Californian pieces together a bright, lively beat featuring a vigorous bass line and a unique chuckling lead. He takes his low end work deeper on the following track ‘Death Dealer,’ more akin to the darker, minimal sounds covered regularly on H&B thus my favourite track on the EP. He brightens things up on ‘Endless Mirrors‘ utilising vibrant harps and melodies before delving back into the dark side on the powerful ‘Concussion‘ with ice cold pads and hard trap-esque percussion. The EP finishes up with a nice touch by including the instrumental to ‘The Crown‘. A welcome inclusion for those, like me, that appreciate the production with or without Sicker‘s slick vocals.
It goes without saying that this is a really impressive first solo release from MRSHL. He covers all angles of his creative capabilities which makes for an exciting, flavourful record. An inclusion of a top UK MC is a certainly the cherry on top. Furthermore, to carry out such a release on a formidable label such as Subaltern Records, it’s only a matter of time before he makes his way to the forefront of the genre and becomes one of America’s grime and dubstep royalty. So keep your eyes and ears set on MRSHL‘s movements!
SUBALT019 is out this Friday (10th May) and available on vinyl from the Subaltern Records store.
Check out MRSHL on Soundcloud and Twitter.
Check out Subaltern Records on Soundcloud and Twitter.